One wanted to ban page 3 of The Sun; the other has described her own ample breasts as "fabulous".

But now the first - Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone - has championed the second -
Mad Men
actress Christina Hendricks - as being the perfect physical role model for British girls.

Mrs Featherstone, the MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, cited the size 14 Hendricks as she attacked the "overexposure" of skinny models, which she argued was causing a crisis in "body confidence" among the young.

The use of such models in fashion shows and magazines, together with the routine use of airbrushing, meant that girls and women came under "dreadful pressure ... to conform to completely unachievable body stereotypes," she said.

She subsequently proposed the red-headed actress Christina Hendricks, 35, who plays feisty secretary Joan Holloway in the American drama Mad Men, as a woman to emulate.

"Christina Hendricks is absolutely fabulous," said the MP. "We need more of these role models."

She continued: "There is such a sensation when there is a curvy role model. It shouldn't be so unusual."

But exactly how closely Hendricks matches the type of role model Ms Featherstone would like her to be is open to debate.

In
Mad Men
, which chronicles the sexual antics of staff in a 1960s advertising agency, Hendricks plays a secretary who has an affair with a married executive.

She has been hailed the star of the series, both for her looks and the adventurous part she plays.

In May she was voted the Sexiest Woman Alive by female readers of
Esquire
magazine, eclipsing the likes of Megan Fox and Michelle Obama.

Mrs Featherstone's compliments are nothing new to the actress, who has long been an object of admiration for both men and women.

"People do come up to me and say, 'I've got such a crush,' " she said earlier this year. "Sometimes women."

In part she thought this was because of the role she played in
Mad Men
.

"They like to see a woman standing up for herself, especially in this atmosphere in 1962. Joan's sassy. She snaps back."

She added: "And men love her because she's in touch with her sexuality and femininity. The men in the office can play with her a little bit. They can tease her, and she's not going to be in the bathroom crying later."

Her curvaceous form had brought her "so many positive comments from women", she said.

Neither was she shy about flaunting her figure, in contrast to the attitude of the British MP.

During the election campaign Mrs Featherstone told women's rights campaigners that she would "love to take on Page 3" [of The Sun], according to that newspaper.

Hendricks, by contrast, has appeared to relish the attention that her 36C breasts have generated.

Asked how she felt about them, she responded: "They are fabulous."

She has also given advice to men in Esquire magazine on how to get women into bed.

"Intelligence and humour (and your smell) are what get you laid," she wrote.

Men should also engage in conduct that many feminists would see as outdated.

"Stand up, open a door, offer a jacket," she advised. "It makes us feel important."

Mrs Featherstone is planning to hold a series of meetings with the fashion industry later this year to tackle issues including airbrushing. She will propose airbrushed images should carry a warning or kitemark so readers know what they are seeing has been altered.

A prominent campaigner, her Parliamentary actions have occasionally backfired.

In 2006 she posed a Parliamentary question asking a minister what assessment he had made of a drug called Progesterex in date rape cases, after receiving an email.

It emerged the email was a hoax. Her response was to criticise the Home Office for not identifying "the unearthly monsters" , who sent them out.

Response: "For a woman who stopped counting her age several decades ago, I'm very flattered by the compliment. Although, if politics is showbusiness for ugly people, does that mean I'm nest of a bad lot?"

Says: "I would love to take on page 3 [of the Sun]"

Christina Hendricks

Age: 35

Occupation: Actress who plays feisty redhead secretary in Mad Men

Accolade: Sexiest Woman Alive, according to Esquire magazine

Response: "People do come up to me and say, 'I've got such a crush'. Sometimes women."